


anytime

by TheEbonHawk



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Brother-Sister Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Related, Nightmares, Young Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 19:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10556658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEbonHawk/pseuds/TheEbonHawk
Summary: “Breha Organa Solo, get your ass down here right now.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos/comments/reviews! Constructive criticism is always welcome.

“Rey,” Ben sighed, exasperated, “get out of the tree.”

The twelve year old shifted on the large branch that was her perch and frowned at her brother, planted firmly on the ground and frowning up at her, squinting and shielding his eyes from the sunlight breaking brightly through the boughs and leaves. “No.” Rey laughed and turned away from him, standing up on her branch to reach for the next one.

Ben huffed and put his free hand on his hip. “Breha Organa Solo, get your ass down here right now.”

Rey pulled herself onto the higher branch, disappearing further into the large, leafy canopy. 

Ben sighed again, deeply. He briefly considered his options. If he kept yelling at her from down here, he knew she’d never come. He could get Han on comm to talk to her...but it’d probably be best just to climb up after her and talk to her himself. He studied the tree and pulled himself up to the lowest branch that would hold him.

Rey was still moving up, from branch to branch, far from running out of distance to lose herself in.

Ben frowned, examining the branches above him. He weighed a lot more. He’d only be able to get a few feet higher. “Rey!” 

She turned her head to look down at him. 

“Can you talk to me, Breha? Why don’t you want to go to lunch? I thought you wanted to hang out with me and Dad.”

 

Rey just stared at him for a moment, then rolled her eyes. “Why would I want to be around you boring old people?” She turned her back and began climbing again. 

Ben grimaced and climbed as high as he could before engaging again. “Rey, if you’re starting your annoying teenager phase already I don’t know what I’ll do.” He sat down on a branch a few feet below her and peered out through the leaves at the sky. “You know he’s gonna be disappointed if you don’t come. He misses you every minute of every day he’s gone. They both do.” He sighed. He used to think the war would end soon and that their parents would come home for good. Now even Rey wasn’t holding her breath.

Rey was silent for a while, just climbing a few boughs higher and then going quiet, sitting on a dubious, high branch. When Ben looked up to check on her, he couldn’t see her face. He was only just beginning to worry when he heard her crying.

He stood up slowly and carefully and leaned on a branch in front of him, looking up at her back. “Rey?”

She had her knees pulled up to her chest, her precarious balance canceled out by the frame of branches around her that would prevent her from falling. She had rested her crossed arms on a chest-level branch in front of her, and her head was still up, looking out through a break in the ceiling of leaves. She was almost silent, but he could hear her, and now that he was aware of it, he could sense her tired, quiet sadness and anxiety. 

 

He’d seen everything from deep and brutal depressive to loud, angry, terrible bouts of crying with her. This was more like defeat, like resignation. He felt sick. “Rey,” he pleaded, his voice quiet. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes wet, and then without him prompting her began to climb down. She made her way to the branch where he sat and found a place to settle near him, leaning against his shoulder with an internal sigh he could sense. 

He wrapped an arm around her and waited.

It took a few moments, but she began to speak before he even thought of asking again. “I just...” She broke off, not liking the weakness of her voice. She waited a moment before trying again. “I had the nightmare again,” she finally said.

Ben’s heart sank. He’d tried every calming technique Luke had ever taught him to relieve his baby sister’s nightmares, but nothing had worked. He’d give anything to make it stop. “I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to. Sometimes it’s easier not to let anyone know. I hate worrying you.”

He was about to tell her not to worry about worrying him, but she continued, probably already knowing what he was thinking. 

“That’s why I don’t want to go. Dad will be able to tell. His ‘fatherly intuition’ is more accurate than the effing Force.”

“He’ll be more worried if you don’t go.”

Rey sighed. “I know. But then I won’t have to deal with it.”

Ben frowned. He laid his head on top of hers and inhaled deeply, frustrated but understanding. He waited, knowing he shouldn’t push her.

 

“I hate him sometimes,” she said after a period of silence.

He was deeply confused until he realised she didn’t mean their father. “Anakin?”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s not fair, but I feel like I have to blame someone. The nightmares...they take so much energy. And they make me so scared to keep training.”

“You know you’d never in a million years be like him.”

  
Rey shrugged. “Not really. Probably nobody thought he’d end up being Vader. But it doesn’t really matter, anyway. I’m just scared. I can’t help it.”

Ben kissed her hair. “I know.”

They sat in silence for a while, side by side in the tree. At this point, they would be late for lunch even if they left now. Ben wanted to go, desperately. But he wouldn’t. Not without her. 

Rey sighed and sat up after a few minutes, preparing to climb down. “Come on, let’s go. If I don’t see him I’m going to regret it.” 

Ben watched her make her way down. “You don’t have to go.”

“I know.”

 

She reached the ground and looked up, waiting for him. 

He moved to the edge of the branch and jumped straight down. 

Rey smiled up at him. “Thanks, Ben.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

She shrugged. “Sitting with me. Understanding. I dunno. Being a good brother.”

  
Ben laughed and hugged her. “Anytime.”


End file.
